LBMA Good Delivery
LBMA Good Delivery is the international quality standard maintained by the London Bullion Market Association. A refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery List has proven its bars meet strict purity (≥99.5% gold, ≥99.9% silver), weight, dimensions, and assay accuracy — making the bars universally accepted by major dealers.
The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) maintains the Good Delivery List, a register of gold and silver refiners whose output meets the standards of the wholesale market. Inclusion is contested annually; a refiner can be removed if any sampled bar fails purity tests.
Gold bars from a Good Delivery refiner are interchangeable in the wholesale market — they can be sold to any LBMA market maker without re-assaying. This makes them the safest choice for individual investors as well, since resale is easier.
Examples of LBMA Good Delivery refiners stocked by Ounceo: PAMP Suisse, Valcambi Suisse, Argor-Heraeus, Royal Canadian Mint, The Royal Mint, and the Austrian Mint. The U.S. Mint and the South African Mint are not on the Good Delivery list for coins (they're sovereign mints), but their coins remain globally liquid.
Sources
Related terms
Fineness is the purity of a precious metal item, expressed as parts per thousand. A 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf at .9999 fineness is 99.99% pure gold. Investment-grade gold for VAT exemption in the EU must be ≥99.5% fine (995/1000). Common levels: .999, .9999, .99999.
A Good Delivery bar is a gold bar that meets LBMA standards for the wholesale market: ≥99.5% pure, 350–430 troy oz (~10.9–13.4 kg), produced by a refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery List. These bars are the unit of wholesale gold trading. Retail buyers usually purchase smaller bars (1 g – 1 kg) from the same refiners.
The spot price is the live wholesale market price for one troy ounce of pure gold (or silver) delivered immediately. It is set continuously by the LBMA, COMEX, and other major markets. Retail bullion always trades above spot, with the markup called the premium.
The premium is the markup over spot price that you pay for retail bullion. It compensates the mint, refiner, dealer, and shipper. Premiums vary by product: 1 oz sovereign coins are 4–6%, 1 g minted bars can be 8–12%, 1 kg LBMA bars are 2–3%. Lower premium = more metal per dollar.